Calvin at College
by ZSteenbergen
Summary: Calvin hasn't seen Susie Derkins for more than 10 years and finally sees her again when they go to college
1. Chapter 1

"Bye Mom, see ya Dad!" Calvin said as he watched his parents getting into their sedan, soon after helping their son move into his college dorm. He was excited; he was finally going to have the freedom he has craved for so many years, since he was 6 to be exact.

"Bye honey, call us when u need something, or if you get homesick, or if you need help with homework, or if you just want to talk." Calvin's mom began saying after she'd gotten into the car and rolled down her window.

"He gets it dear, don't ya son?" his father said.

"You bet Dad." Calvin responded.

"Good" and with that the two of them drove back to their humble home in suburbia. Calvin ran back into his dorm to unpack his suitcase. When he got back to the room his roommate had already gotten himself moved in.

"Uh, hey man; I'm Chad." The young man said. He wore grey skinny jeans, black converse sneakers and a screen print t-shirt underneath a zip-up hooded sweatshirt; typical skater attire.

"I'm Calvin," Calvin said extending his hand to be shook, chad shook it. ", so what'cha majoring in Chad?" Calvin asked, trying to get to know as much as he could about his roommate, so as to decide whether he wanted to switch rooms or not.

"Philosophy." Chad said with a grin, the kind of grin that says "I'm only at college for the booze and the girls."

"Me too." This was the end of their conversation, Calvin had moved on to opening his suitcase and unpacking. When he opened the biggest zippered section there was a note on top of the clothes; it was from Calvin's mom.

Calvin, I know you're an adult now but I just wouldn't feel right about letting you go to college, the biggest adventure of your life, without an old friend by your side – Mom xoxo

Calvin knew immediately to whom she was referring, he turned around to see if Chad was still in the room, he wasn't, and Calvin turned back to the suitcase. He lifted the first shirt in the pile and that's when he saw it. A stuffed tiger, missing a stitch here and there, orange color was faded in places and it even had part of an ear missing, that didn't matter, it was still Hobbes; Calvin's greatest friend of all time. When Calvin was 12 years old his mother had put Hobbes, and several of Calvin's other childhood possessions, in storage bins that were placed in the attic of their house. Calvin began thinking about all the good times they had; killing evil snowmen, going to mars, spending hours talking and exploring the forest beyond his neighborhood. He was about to start tearing up when Chad burst back into the room.

"Dude! There's a hot brunette in the room down the hall who needs help getting moved in, her parents had to leave before she could get fully settled, come on!" He said. Calvin was taken aback; he had only just met this guy and was already getting roped into things. He followed Chad to the room where the "hot brunette" was staying. "She needs us to carry her stuff up from downstairs."

"Ok," Calvin said as he walked down the long hall of their dorm building. They stopped in front of a room that was about 12 or so rooms from them, after Chad knocked on the door the "hot brunette" answered.

"Calvin?" She asked.

"Yes? Wait, how do you know who I am?" Calvin responded.

"You don't remember do you, it's me! Susie Derkins." Calvin's jaw almost dropped straight through the floor, not only because he hadn't seen Susie Derkins since she had moved away back when they were only 10 years old, but also because Chad hadn't exaggerated, Susie was smoking hot.

"Oh my god!" Calvin exclaimed, the last thing he remembers saying to Susie was "see ya in the fall", she moved away during the summer after the fourth grade. She was all grown up now, her maple brown hair was still cut short, she was thin, looked pretty athletic and the most beautiful eyes Calvin had ever seen. "So, you need your stuff brought up?"

"Yeah, it's right downstairs, follow me" She gestured for the two of them to follow her to the staircase. Chad leaned over and whispered in Calvin's ear

"What'd I tell ya man? Is she hot or is she hot?"

"Yeah, you were right." Calvin responded, Chad then ran up and was walking right next to Susie. This, for some reason, made Calvin upset; he had no idea why though.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm tellin' you Hobbes, I think I might be in love with Susie." Calvin said to the tiger sitting in his dorm room.

"I thought we already had this talk when you were 13, you just miss her is all…well in this case you MISSED her, it'll pass trust me." Hobbes said stretching out on the floor like he had done so many years before.

"I don't think so, it's different this time."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well for one I'm not going through puberty anymore, my hormones are in check." Calvin was getting annoyed and yet was feeling happily nostalgic, he hasn't spoken to Hobbes in years and was missing it.

"Please, like you know anything about hormones." Hobbes said condescendingly

"I do so! I took a health class in high school."

"I may have been in a box at that point but I can already tell you slept through it and only barely passed." Hobbes always knew what Calvin was thinking, it was like a superpower. His parents always said that it was because Hobbes was in his imagination but Calvin knew that there was something more to it, something deeper.

"Not the point Hobbes! Besides, this isn't the first time I've thought about her since then."

"What?"

"You were in the basement at the time, I couldn't sleep. I had had a rough day at school I failed a healt-," Calvin stopped himself before Hobbes was proven right "I mean, a MATH test and Dad told me that when he was my age, a bad day could be solved by thinking about what made you happy. I was a Junior in high school so naturally my mind went to material items; video games, the internet, my cell phone, etc. But after a while, I began thinking about deeper things. Obviously my family's love and respect, my friends, writing (oh yeah, in high school I took creative writing, lots of fun, the school paper published a weekly comic strip I wrote about me about me when I was six."

"Was I in it?" Hobbes asked hopefully

"Of course buddy! Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah! So then I thought about Susie. It began as no more than a passing thought, but my mind would keep going back to her like a moth to a campsite lantern. Each time she returned to my thoughts I would think about her longer and longer until finally she was all I could think about…all I would think about. I remembered how she was the only girl who ever actually wanted to spend time with me, the only KID for that matter, you may not have realized this Hobbes, but I wasn't cool when I was younger." Hobbes didn't say anything, he just gave Calvin a look that said 'you don't say'. Calvin couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I thought about her so long that by the time I was about to actually go to sleep my alarm began ringing. I had come to the conclusion that I was in love with her."

"Oh my god!" Hobbes exclaimed.

"I know right?"

"Not that, you thought about what made you happy and I didn't make the list!" that was Hobbes for you, always had his priorities straight. "But aside from that, let's have a chat about Susie. You see Calvin, when a boy loves a girl very much he-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there, I already had this chat with my dad years ago."

"Did he get to the part with the iron lung?" The next few seconds were spent with Calvin looking at Hobbes and trying to figure out what an iron lung had to do with sex. The next two things that came out of Hobbes' mouth were probably the wisest things Calvin had ever heard from him. "Well then I'll skip ahead, Calvin, I've been around the block a couple times, and I've come to know a thing or two about love. 1. If you feel it for more than a month it's probably true, 2. It works best with people you've known for years, and 3. Never trust a Raggedy Ann who promises to love you forever and then leave after three weeks with an old beanie baby that you just KNOW won't work but just sit idly by and watch it bloom into a beautiful romance in spite of the fact that there is far too big a height difference, but that's a different story." The third thing that came out of his mouth was not that wise, but the first two are still solid advice.

" You were in that basement far too long my friend…far too long." Calvin hugged his old friend and quietly said 'I missed you' and then put him away in the closet. Calvin laid down on his bed and was about to go to sleep when a thought entered his head. This thought was so jarring that he shot up and said it aloud. "Where is Chad?"


	3. Chapter 3

With his mind racing trying to think of the places that Chad could be Calvin walked out of his dorm room as nonchalantly as he could and made his way down the hall. As he passed Susie's room he heard the unmistakable sound of a girl pretending to laugh at a bad joke, a sound Calvin had heard all too often during his years hoping to be voted class clown at the end of his senior year, he eventually would have to settle for most likely to go to prison. When asked why people chose him for that superlative they all cited the noodle incident from elementary school. Some men just can't outrun their past.

"You are so funny Chad," The voice of a young woman said from the other side of the door. Calvin couldn't be sure but even with the voice being distorted with it passing through a door Calvin just KNEW that it was Susie. It was Susie…with Chad! Calvin couldn't help but begin to break down. He had only just realized that the girl he was in love with was within reach and now some weird looking guy she just met is stealing her away. Now everything he had thought could happen between them never will. The quiet walks after lectures, maybe a dinner or two, ah who was he kidding? He probably never had a chance with her to begin with. And now all that was left for him to do was mope over to his dorm room and-

"Get out of here!" Calvin was suddenly snapped back into reality by the sound of ANOTHER girl in the dorm room.

"Maybe it's Susie's roommate." Calvin thought to himself, "or maybe it's Susie! I mean I didn't really her the first girl that well, maybe Susie doesn't like Chad after all, and maybe we have a chance at something!" At that moment the door to the dorm room opened and out walked a very mad Chad.

"Uh, hey man." Chad tried not to be angry toward Calvin even though he was very angry in general. "What'cha up to?" Calvin had to think quickly.

"Oh y'know…goin for a walk." Calvin was quick to lie and no one could tell whether he was telling the truth or not, unless of course his lies made no sense.

"At one AM?" Chad asked in disbelief.

"Of course at one AM! It gets the blood flowing, gets you ready to learn." Calvin didn't realize that he was coming off as a huge dork until he was finished. "What are YOU doing?

Chad turned back toward the dorm he had come out of and looked back at Calvin. "Nothing, just, talking."

"Sounds like you were talking pretty loudly." Calvin said referring to yell he had heard.

"That? Ah, that was nothing, don't worry about it. On an unrelated note; she is crazy." He said, pointing to Susie's dormitory.

"Who, Susie?" Calvin asked hoping the answer was 'yes'.

"I don't know her name; she's got the short brown hair and sounds really smart." Calvin breathed a sigh of relief; this meant Susie didn't like Chad. "But in spite of that, her roommate is awesome." Calvin couldn't wait to hear Chad describe all the ways in which Susie's roommate was 'hot'. "She's nice, sweet, smart (but not too smart) and really pretty."

"I may be out of place saying this seeing as how I've only known you for one day but, that doesn't sound like you." Calvin said.

"Who cares if you're out of place, because you're right it isn't like me." Chad looked around the hall for a second. "This is kinda weird, talking in the hall. Do you wanna head down to the lounge and play a game of pool?

"Sure why not?" The two headed down to Student lounge where there was an open pool table. They played a couple games of pool together and talked. Chad talked about Olivia (he finally remembered Susie's roommate's name) and Calvin talked about Susie. He told Chad about how Susie and he grew up together and how she moved and Calvin realized how great it is to talk about his problems with an actual person instead of well…an enormous carnivore. The next morning Chad and Calvin arranged to have breakfast with Susie and Olivia. Chad hoped to make peace with Susie and win over Olivia while Calvin wanted to win over Susie, with his first day of college over, Calvin felt like he has a new adventure ahead of him. With his new friend Chad, his old friend Hobbes and his both old and new love Susie.


	4. Chapter 4

Day 2 of college, Calvin and Chad went down to the college's cafeteria to have breakfast with Suzie, her roommate and Chad. It was almost like a double date, with Chad being enamored with Suzie's roommate and Calvin realizing his feelings for Suzie herself.

"Let's go man," Chad said after he got fully dressed, skinny jeans, screen print t-shirt of a punk band and a grey beanie.

"In a minute, I'll catch up with you alright?" Calvin said.

"Alright man, just don't leave me alone with that Sally girl for too long." Chad said, meaning Suzie. He hadn't made a huge effort to learn her name after they had a bit of a falling out, or as much of a falling out that you can have when you've known someone for one day.

"Don't worry I won't." Calvin said; he was glad that he had made friends with Chad. He didn't have any idea what he was in for when he met the guy but Chad had certainly exceeded expectations. Calvin, upon meeting Chad, thought he was only in college to drink and meet girls and that he only signed on for philosophy because he believed it would be easy. Calvin was wrong about all of that. Chad was actually a brilliant guy, scoring over a 2000 on his SATs. His dream was to be a writer, poetry mostly, and wrote poems that focused on different world beliefs; his outward appearance and attitude combined with his inner brilliance made him almost a modern day beatnik, at home with Kerouac and Blake alike. Another thing Calvin learned about his roommate the night before was that he was a true pool shark. Calvin lost so much money to him that if his meals weren't included in his tuition he'd be going hungry that morning. As soon as Chad was out of the dorm Calvin went to the closet to let his favorite tiger into the room. "Sleep well?" Calvin asked his dear friend.

"Like a cub," Hobbes said stretching. "So how'd your night go?" he asked

"It went really well, I have to say that I really love College."

"Well that won't last for long," Hobbes said, finishing his stretches and sitting on Calvin's bed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let's face it kid, you hate school. Always have, always will. You may love this newfound freedom and these people that you're around but when classes start you'll go back to the old Calvinian ways my friend, you'll be kicked out of here faster than when you put all of those noodles-"

"Hey!" Calvin interrupted, "We promised never to speak of that."

"You were serious?"

"We made the oath on the stack of my comics! Of course it was serious!"

"Oh, wish I knew that in the basement."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I and your limited edition Nitro Man action figure got to talking…and you eventually just run out of stories about yourself that you dip into those about other people."

"Ugh," Calvin groaned, "well that's another one who won't be making eye contact with me in a while." Calvin realized he'd better get going to the cafeteria to meet up with Chad before he was alone for too long. Before leaving, Calvin got Hobbes caught up on all of the events from the night before, the episode outside of Susie's door and his time playing pool with Chad. Calvin then headed down to the cafeteria, housed underground in a series of hallways and tunnels that connected the whole college together. When he got there it was filled with students from the college, freshmen to seniors, comingling. He grabbed a cup of 1% milk, some waffles and a mixed cup of fruit before sitting down at the table Chad and the occupants of Susie's dorm were sitting at.

"And ever since then, the students from our graduating class have referred to that day as 'the day of the Noodle Incident'!" Calvin heard Susie finishing as he sat at the table, feeling every drop of blood in his body filling his cheeks.

"Calvin, you didn't tell me you were so infamous. I can see, now, why you haven't stocked up on ramen like most college students do." Chad said laughing.

"Haha, yeah," Calvin said, feeling uncomfortable. He immediately introduced himself to Susie's roommate as a means of changing the subject. "Hi there, I'm Calvin, the star of that unfortunate story." She chuckled; Susie's roommate was thin, blonde with deep, sharp blue eyes.

"It was a great story, I'm sure you're remembered for it." She said smiling; she had a slightly Midwestern accent, swallowing a few vowels. "My name is Donna. Hopefully I'll be remembered for something a little better. I'm part of the university's bachelor of fine arts in drama program. I dream of starring on Broadway someday." As she said this Calvin didn't doubt in her ability to achieve this dream. She was very pretty, her voice was rather clear and her skin was smoother than the Venus de Milo's; but still, Calvin thought, she could not hold a candle to Susie.

"I can see you on a Marquis already," Calvin said as he began digging into his waffles. "What about you Susie?" He asked after washing down his first couple bites of waffles with his glass of milk.

"I'm enrolled in the pre-med program; I'm hoping to move on to some place like Harvard or Stanford for medical school.

"Wow!" Calvin exclaimed, "That's so cool."

"Did you guys play doctor a lot as kids?" Chad asked with a lewd chuckle.

"Very funny Chad…but, yes, we did. But not in the way you think. Susie was a very capable diagnostician." Calvin said.

"However, Calvin was a rather unruly patient." Susie retorted, laughing. "I can't tell you how many times he would run off to God knows where with his Tiger when we were playing."

"Tiger?!" Donna asked, shocked.

"Like in 'Life of Pi'?" Chad asked.

"Not exactly," Calvin responded, "we weren't trapped on a boat together." The table laughed.

"He was a stuffed animal," Susie said, trying to assure the group I was not some sort of crazed beast master…despite the fact that it wasn't true, not to Calvin.

"Obviously," Donna said.

"So what do you girls have going on today?" Chad asked.

"We were going to check out some of the campus sororities, and then I have a play tonight."

"You're in a play? Already?" Calvin asked

"Yeah, we rehearsed it over the summer and it's playing at a theater in town."

"Oh, I see."

"Would you boys want to come?" Donna asked Calvin and Chad "We still have some tickets available."

"We'd love to come!" Chad said, answering for both he and Calvin.

"I'm going too, we can sit together. Think you can handle that?" Susie asked, looking over at Chad with a piercing glare that could take down the toughest of exteriors.

"Yes, I'm sure that I can." Chad responded.

"Ok then." Susie said; Calvin did not know fully what had happened between Susie and Chad but as long as it did not ruin his chances with Susie he would not care. Looks like Calvin was going to a play.


	5. Chapter 5

"So where is this play exactly?" Hobbes asked as Calvin was trying on outfits to wear that night.

"I told you, it's downtown at some place called…oh geez what'd she call it? It's some name, a last name, followed by 'Black Box Theater'." Calvin replied, viewing himself in his mirror after putting on a button up flannel shirt with the top two buttons undone.

"A black box; I don't know man, do you know what kind of shows get put on in places like those?"

"No." Calvin said removing the flannel.

"Do the words 'experimental theater' mean anything to you?" Hobbes asked.

"That's going to have to be another 'no' my friend." Calvin answered, replacing the flannel with a polo shirt.

"Experimental theater is full of weird, low budget, plays. Most of them star the writer/director." Hobbes said putting quotes around 'writer/director' "trust me pal, nothing good comes out of black box."

"You're only saying that because you were stuck in a black bin when mom put you down in the basement." Calvin said turning toward Hobbes displaying his current outfit. "What do you think?" Hobbes looked him over.

"Looks good, I've always liked red shirts…oh wait, that's you. Didn't you get any new clothes since elementary school? While I was in the bottom of your closet today I barely could find anything more than red shirts."

"Why were you going through my-" Calvin began.

"That's not important! Anyway, I think that with this new school you need a new wardrobe, a new start."

"But Hobbes, don't you see? I'm not supposed to get a new start; Susie's here, she's back, with me. I'm finally getting the chance I never got in elementary school, I'm getting a redo; an old start." Calvin said smiling, he'd been thinking about Susie so much since moving into the dorm.

"And that's why you only packed red shirts…before you knew she'd be here?"

"Ok fine, maybe that's not why I only packed red shirts but you have to admit it's definitely a sign."

"You really picked the right major," Hobbes said. Calvin finished getting ready and met Chad and Susie in the lounge on the first floor of the dorm building. He was wearing the red polo he'd tried on with a pair of khaki pants and loafers his mom had bought him for 'formal occasions'. Chad had on a similar outfit, khakis and dress shoes but instead of a polo shirt he wore a button up maroon dress shirt, open, with a black t-shirt underneath. But Susie was the real head turner in their group. Susie wore a black cocktail dress with a slightly v-shaped neckline that showed a little skin; she also had on a white cardigan sweater that accented the black dress.

"Wow, somebody sure looks nice." Calvin said looking at Susie.

"Thanks, I had hoped you'd notice." Chad said fluttering his eyelashes. Susie glared at him. Not wanting to hear Susie get angry at Chad Calvin interjected.

"So I'm calling us a cab or what?"

"I have a car on campus." Susie said and led Chad and Calvin to the building's parking lot where they found her teal 1981 Mercury Cougar with opera windows.

"Oh my god," Chad said, Calvin assumed he was about to make fun of the car. "This is awesome, my dad and I restored one of these back when I was a kid.

"You like it?" Susie asked.

"Are you kidding, it's gorgeous! How's it run?"

"Pretty good."

"You are so lucky!" Chad said.

"What do you think Calvin?" Susie asked, Calvin wasn't sure whether he should be honest and tell her that he hated the car or say he liked it as a means of scoring points with her.

"It looks really…um….well kept; you must take great care of it." He said, hoping he could wait out having to tell her he hated the car.

"Well I'm like that with everything," She responded "But what do you think of the car itself?"

"Well…If I'm being totally honest, then I would say I really like it. It's a cool looking car, an those windows in the back look awesome." Calvin said

"Oh, 'cause I hate it." Susie said bluntly.

"I hate it too." Calvin said immediately and awkwardly.

"Dude, you just said you liked it." Chad said.

"No I didn't….Well I, uh, yes I did. But I was being ironic!" Calvin said, trying to save his standing within the conversation.

"I don't think so bud." Chad said.

"It's ok if you like it Calvin," Susie said.

"But I don't! I hate it, it's an ugly ugly car!" Calvin insisted.

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, it was the only car I could afford before going to college so I'm kind of stuck with it until I get something a little more, my style." Susie said, Calvin was upset that they thought he like the car. He honestly saw it as the lamest car he'd ever seen; the teal color made it an eyesore and the weird half vinyl roof it had with the opera windows just looked tacky. The trio piled into the car with Calvin getting shotgun, partly because Susie was still angry toward Chad and partly because Calvin had shouted 'Shotgun!' they drove thirty minutes into town until they arrived at the Appleton Black Box Theater, where Donna's play was being put on. The three entered a small lobby where they picked up their tickets Donna had reserved for them and took their seats in the front row. The seats were cushionless metal folding chairs, beige colored. What they lacked in comfort they made up for in hideousness. The stage was on the same level as the audience, a fellow patron of the show explained that that was common in black box theaters. When the lights came on Donna entered, she was dressed in a yellow sundress.

"This is a love story," she began twirling around, letting her dress flow. "It's also the story of how I died, painfully and violently." And that was the moment Calvin knew he was not going to enjoy the play. That moment was followed by many more moments where Donna monologued about how painful it was to have a long, sharp, knife thrust into her abdomen and moved about by an awkward stage fighter with an obviously fake knife. At the end of the show Chad gave Donna a congratulatory hug.

"That was without a doubt the greatest show I'd ever seen! You were so believable! I almost ran up on the stage and punched the guy trying to hurt you." Chad said, beaming with both attraction and pride in Donna's performance.

"You'd do that for me?" Chad immediately was intimidated, he felt awkward and nervous.

"Uh, yeah, that's me! Mr. Chivalry…I'm like a knight in shining armor, Sir Lancelot right here." Chad was beginning to ramble. Calvin felt the need to save his new friend.

"Great play Donna, I had no idea that the boyfriend would be the killer in the end; that just came out of nowhere!"  
>"You think so? Derek was nervous about how the audience would react."<p>

"Who's Derek?" Chad asked, nervous.

"He wrote the show, and directed it." Donna said, Calvin couldn't get Hobbes words out of his head at this point. "He also played my boyfriend." As Donna said this she pointed to the handsome dark haired man who had played her killer that was standing across the room. "If you guys wait here I'll go get him." Donna walked away.

"Calvin, I've got to tell you, I do not like the idea of Donna going out with some guy, even if he just played her boyfriend in a play." Chad said. Calvin looked over at Susie who was talking to other members of the cast.

"I know how you feel man, trust me."


	6. Chapter 6

After the play Donna had invited the group to the cast party. It was loud, crowded and most of all awkward. Calvin and Chad both had strong feelings for the girls that they were with but had fears of rejection that were even stronger. When Chad was anywhere near Donna he became nothing more than a blathering idiot and Calvin was always nervous about what he was saying. He would think and over and think all off his responses and quips, the quips would get so overthought that by the time he said them they were no longer clever and timed well. What also added to the awkwardness, for Calvin at least, was that the party was for actors while Calvin and friends were the furthest things from that. Everyone in attendance wanted to sing songs and play elaborate performance games while Calvin's only goal was to get closer to Susie. Needless to say, it is difficult to get close to someone when an entire room of people wants to uproariously sing The Cup Song. Calvin noticed that Chad and he were going about the night differently. Calvin was trying to avoid the outbursts of song and dance while Chad was trying to include himself in them. Donna was a central member of the cast and, as such, was at the center of the entire hubbub. Chad slapped his red solo cup along with the rest of the cast, he belted notes that he had no business singing, and he "danced" the best that his two shuffling left feet could all in an effort to impress and improve his standing with the girl of his dreams.

Calvin was standing outside of the main circle with Susie while he watched the actors sing acapella renditions of the day's popular songs (better than the original artists themselves one could add). He was trying to start up a conversation but was finding that the cast's performance was too much of a distraction for Susie.

"They're so good!" She exclaimed.

"Even Chad's better than expected." Calvin added chuckling

"Yeah," she said laughing "So, and I want to start by saying that everyone involved are all wonderful people but that play…"

"Oh I know!" Calvin said before she could finish, knowing that she was going to comment on how over the top and clichéd the play was. They continued to go back and forth on the topic until the play's writer/director, Derek, walked up.

"Couldn't help but overhear you guys talking about my play, alright I'm lying. I couldn't hear a word, but come on. I'm all anyone's been talking about all night. Nice to meet you I'm Derek." He said, flashing them a big, white, Hollywood-looking smile (he was the lead actor too). Derek stood six feet tall with the lifts in his shoes, he had brown hair that was spiked up with gel and he wore more Axe than any respectable man should (which is greater than or equal to one spray).

"Hi Derek, I'm Susie."

"And I'm-"Calvin was cut off.

"Friends with Donna right? Oh god, she is just so talented!" He said. "Of all the girls that came out for that part Donna was the only one that truly understood the message of my work."

"He can't say one thing without coming back to himself." Calvin thought to himself.

"What about you?" He said looking at Susie, "Do you act at all? You've got the face for it."

"No," Susie said, "I'm actually going to school for Pre-Med"

"No way! Well if you ever feel like playing doctor..." Derek said, hinting with a smile that dripped with sleaze. Susie was clearly offended.

"Hey!" Calvin said

"What?" Derek replied, looking at Calvin for the first time.

"That wasn't cool, you can't talk to her like that."

"You her boyfriend?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then stay out of it!" Derek shoved Calvin backward and went back to talking to Susie, "So, uh, where was I? When my next play is in production I'm sure that I'll have a part for you." Again with another sleazy smile.

"Hey!" Calvin shouted again, when Derek turned Calvin shoved him back and caused him to spill the contents of his cup on himself.

"What's the matter with you?" Derek asked.

"You! You douche!" Calvin responded. After brushing the froth off the front of his shirt Derek took a swing at Calvin and made contact just above his eyebrow, knocking Calvin to the ground.

"Can someone get him out of here?" Derek asked the partygoers.

"I will," Susie said helping Calvin get to his feet. "Have a good night." She added, glaring at Derek. Before leaving the party Susie encouraged Chad and Donna to stay despite Calvin and Derek's altercation, while also encouraging them not to mention they all came together. Susie and Calvin drove back to the campus in silence, Calvin was stewing over Derek's lucky cheap shot and didn't feel like talking. After several, awkward, minutes Susie decided she'd break the silence. "Thank you," She said, causing Calvin to look over at her from the passenger seat. "Thank you for sticking up to him."

"Don't worry about it," Calvin said. "You'd do the same for me right?"

"Sure, just don't expect me to take a punch." They both laughed "I'm glad we go to school together again."

"Me too," Calvin said. "More than you know." He thought to himself.


End file.
